Explaining the increasing sugar inventory in the year’s first two months, the head of a sugar firm said that domestic sugar was facing harsh competition with sugar smuggled from Thailand. The price of Thai sugar sold in Vietnam is 5-10% cheaper than that of locally produced one, he said.
Besides, after a period of boosting production of Tet confectioneries, firms have lowered the sugar use, affecting the buying power of sugar, he added.
According to sugar firms, with the current price of over VND12,000 a kilo, sugar factories suffer losses of over VND1,000 for every kilo they sell. Despite incurring losses, firms cannot lower the price of sugarcane they buy from farmers.
Sugarcane is now bought at VND930,000 per ton, equivalent to last year. Meanwhile, a kilo of sugar was priced at VND14,000 at this time last year.
According to updated statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the sugar price continues to drop by VND500-1,000 per kilo from last month. The current wholesale price of white sugar at Nong Cong, Son La, Nghe An, Quang Ngai, Ben Tre and Con Tho factories ranges between VND12,000 and VND12,600 a kilo.
Statistics recorded on February 15 showed that sugar factories had produced 835,000 tons, up 50,500 tons year-on-year.
Đăng ký: VietNam News